Autographs
Ephraim Hart Jewish American Merchant & Founding Member of New York “Board of Stock-Brokers”
EPHRAIM HART (1747 - 1825). Historic Jewish American Merchant who helped to organize the “Board of Stock-Brokers,” now known as the New York Stock Exchange!


April 18th, 1817-Dated, Manuscript Document Signed, “Ephm. Hart,” being a payment receipt for selling real estate on Love Lane (New York) for James C. Roosevelt, Very Fine. This original Document measures 4” x 6” and is very well written in bold brown ink, having a bold clear signature of Ephraim Hart at the conclusion. It reads, in full:

“ New York - April 18th, 1817 Recd. of Mr. James C. Roosevelt thirty seven dollars and a half in full for Commissions for Selling h8is place in Love Lave. -- Ephm. Hart”.

Ephraim Hart is listed among the historic early Jewish persons of America. After immigrating to American from Europe, by 1782 he was residing as a major merchant in Philadelphia. In 1787 he also joined the Mickvé Israel congregation. He married in 1783 Frances Noah, a sister of Manuel Noah, and their son was named Joel Hart. Later he moved to New York City and engaged in the commission and brokerage business. On April 2, 1787, Hart was registered as an elector of the Shearith Israel Congregation.

By 1792 he had become one of the most successful merchants in New York City, and at this time he helped to organize the Board of Stock-Brokers, now known as the New York Stock Exchange. The origin of the New York Stock Exchange can be traced to May 17, 1792, when the Buttonwood Agreement was signed by 24 stock brokers on Wall Street in New York City under a buttonwood tree. On March 8, 1817, the organization drafted a constitution and renamed itself the "New York Stock & Exchange Board." His name appears in 1799 in a "list of owners of houses and lots valued at £2,000 or more." He was also one of the founders, in 1802, of the ebra Hesed Veemet, a charitable organization connected with the Shearith Israel Congregation. This is a rarely encountered signature is of an important figure in Jewish American history and the financial history of the United States of America. The very first we have offered.